Roll Call On The 3rd CD

Roll Call reports today that Republican U.S. Rep. Peter King’s re-election in the 3rd CD on Long Island “might not be a guarantee” after enjoying relative job security for more than a decade. He was first elected in 1992 and is now the lone GOP member of the island’s Congressional delegation and chair of the House Homeland Security Committee.

King is being challenged by Democratic Nassau County Legislator Dave Mejias, the first Latino ever to be elected to that local post and a frequent campaign trail companion of erstwhile Democratic gubernatorial candidate/Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.

The New York Times endorsed Mejias Sunday, calling him “one of the few bright bulbs in the low-watt Nassau Legislature,” which stikes me as a bit of damning with faint praise…

Like so many other Democratic Congressional candidates, Mejias is bankingÂ largely onÂ voter disgust with the GOP.

“From the response thatÂ we’ve gotten, I’d like to think it’s because I’m a good candidate,” he told Roll Call. “But I completely understand that it’s really about things that are beyond me.”Â

He’s also touting a Constituent Dynamics (Majority Watch) poll that shows him two points behind King, 47-45, although a number of political observers have questioned the veracity of this outfit’s polls in this race, and others.Â

King has the enrollment edge – there are 196,542 Republicans in the 3rd CD, 133,799 Democrats and 100,527 “blanks” – as well as a considerable cash advantage, with $1.6 million on hand, according to the latest FEC filings, compared to Mejias’ $136,000.

King is starting to hit the airwaves hard, Roll Call reports. But he’s also getting in his own way a bit, thanks to his rather blustery and pugnacious personality – traits that appeal to some voters and repel others.